Starry is an interesting take on a Wi-Fi Station

May 9, 2016

Transcript

[SOUND]
[MUSIC]
Hi guys this is the starry wi-fi station.
This is the new fancy quad stream ac wi-fi router designed for a network of mostly wireless clients such laptops tablets or a smartphone.
Now the routers selling point is this screen right here.
It makes using it very simple.
In fact the setup process can be done via a few tap and then you're all done.
You can always check on your network too.
The number here, for example, it is your network health score.
Basically, 60% and up means your network is in good shape, but anything above that is kind of mystery because I cannot discern the difference between a few percentage point [INAUDIBLE] but right now it say 97%.
Why not 98?
Would it be so bad if it were 95?
And why not 100?
Really?
And if you notice it keeps changing all the time and I'm just sitting here.
You can also tap on the screen here to view more information about your network or display the wi-fi password, etc, but it cannot change anything.
For that, you need to use the mobile app called Starry.
Now that opens up a completely new ball game.
First, you will need to register an account with Starry.
And that means you can manage your whole network even when you're out and about.
But in return, your router will connect to Starry at all times.
And that makes me kind of nervous.
The router has a microphone and and also a speaker.
Right now they don't do anything.
But in the future though, you might be able to use it for voice commands when it's added via firmware update.
And speaking of future, the router here is also supposed to support Home automation Wi-Fi standards such as Zingby but that is also not yet activated.
Now in testing as a router, the Star Eight did really well with fast Wi-Fi speed and very stable Wi-Fi signal.
It's worked for three days in a row without misconnecting once.
But the range was not the best I've ever seen, maxing out about one hundred feet away.
This is not to bad either.
That brings us to the biggest problem of this router here, the price.
At three hundred and fifty dollars it is the most expensive router on the market.
Is it worth it?
It is up to you.
If you like the screen, the triangle design and especially the ease of view.
It can make a great router if you live in a small home.
Not for me though, because my network health is always at least one hundred percent, hundred percent of [UNKNOWN].
So I need something that can indicate hundred and ten percent or more.
And that's because I don't know.
Think about it.